Mulberry Silk

[Candybee]

Anybody use Mulberry silk in their soaping? I heard it dissolves so much easier in lye than Tussah and that is also leaves a nice sheen. If you do, how do you like it, how much do you use PPO, and where do you buy it? I found some at Muddy Soap co. but looking for other options. Thanks.

[NightLight]

Google mulberry silk fibers. You can find on many spinning weaving sites, and also on Amazon.

 

https://www.susansfiber.com/products/mulberry-silk

 

https://www.amazon.com/Mulberry-Spinning-Blending-Felting-Dyeing/dp/B07MKPNXV3

 

 

 

[Candybee]

Thank you. I did google it and that's how I found it at Muddy Soap co., Amazon, and others. What I am asking is if you have used it, how you like it, how much do you use, and where you prefer to buy it from.

[NightLight]

i have not used but it seems to have good reviews for soapmaking. Can't help with percentages on that one. Maybe soapmaking forum has some info! You could ask Muddy Soap how much they suggest for cp soap.

 

[Sponiebr]

I use it when Tussah gets to be too much to replace. It works fine. I can't tell any functional difference really, except that the lye solution isn't as "muddied". I think I got mine on some deal off of Amazon or Etsy for like 8 ounces for $16 or some kind of unbelievable deal. That's how I buy MOST of my soap making materials though. I wait until there's a ridiculous deal and then I cash in on it in a major way. So I just had to calculate my rate of use at .5g per 100ml of water or 5g per liter of LIQUID ONLY. (That's not actual total solution that's only the water portion of the solution). I chop up the total fiber for the entire batch into 1/4" long snips and wet it completely with the solution, frequently running my SB in the water with the fine silk choppings so that it gets ALL of the air out and gets EVERY FIBER wet with water BEFORE I start adding my lye to the solution. (My water is fridge cold when I start this process too.) I find that adding the silk to the water BEFORE adding the lye cuts ALL stink / hack-up-a-lung potential from the equation and leaves nothing but a really nice floral sweet scent to the lye solution. You HAVE TO get it all dissolved though before you leave it to rest. The lye AND the silk have BOTH got to be in solution BEFORE you stop with the stirring. Also, if you like to add sugar to your solution you need to make sure you add and completely dissolve ALL of your sugar into the water solution BEFORE you add the silk and then the lye. If you try to add granulated sugar AFTER your lye solution has been made the sugar will just clump up and sink to the bottom of the solution. If you want to add in sugar AFTER the lye solution is made (with the dissolved silk fiber) you have to dissolve the sugar into a small amount of water and then add that water to the lye solution. If you add ANY water to the lye solution it WILL heat up, and it will heat up even more if it contains anything but water. 


EDIT: So I looked it up and it wasn't 8 ounces it was 4.4 ounces (precisely 100g.)  at $16.99 of really EXCELLENT mulberry silk tops. I think I found one tiny nit in the whole bag. Good deal for a pinch hit, not earth shattering though. 

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B089G7XXBH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Cheers, 

Sponiebr
The Executor of Bad Ideas and Sundry Services.  

Edited December 25, 2020 by Sponiebr

[Candybee]

Thanks Sponiebr. I still have my tussah silk I bought years ago. I bought a quarter of a lb and it has lasted me for years and tons and tons of soap batches. It is finally starting to run low so that got me to thinking of where to buy my silk and if I should try the mulberry silk. I probably have enough tussah to last me another couple of years but one of these days I want to try out the mulberry and see if I like it. So it helps to hear from someone who has used it. I add my sugar to my milk and dissolve it with the milk I use before adding to the soap batter. My lye solution is where I add my silk fibers so I don't have to worry about incorporating sugar in it. I always split my liquid like water/milk, aloe juice/milk, aloe juice/beer, etc. so I mix in the lye with either water or aloe juice and if I am using silk it always gets mixed in with the liquid part I am using for the lye solution. Sugar or honey gets mixed in with the milk or beer which is the other half of the liquid that I pour directly into the batter. Hope that makes sense.